From the moment the Leafs announced that Auston Matthews was heading to the All-Star Game as a lock, selected by the National Hockey League, there was a movement from the Maple Leafs' fanbase to get as many Leafs in via the All-Star fan vote as possible.
As of right now, it would appear as though William Nylander and Mitch Marner will be joining Matthews at the All-Star Game, pending the official results being announced, but there's one more Leaf whom many believe is long overdue for a trip to the All-Star Game; the team's longest tenured Leaf, Morgan Rielly.
This week, multiple teammates of Rielly's in Toronto voiced their support for the veteran defenseman, including captain John Tavares and fellow blueliner Mark Giordano.
"He should've been there already, so I think it's long overdue. And no better way than for his first one to be in Toronto, especially what he's given to this city and this organization and the level that he's playing at and just how much we rely on him. One of the most unselfish players, teammates, that I've had in my time in the league and the game, so would be great to see him get that recognition." - Tavares
During last night's coverage of the Leafs/Islanders game on TSN, we saw the rough outlook of the voting based on recent numbers, which had Rielly listed 11th overall in votes with a little over 211,000 votes. Per the terms of the All-Star fan vote, only the top 8 skaters and top 4 goalies will get in. Obviously, fans have really been pushing hard to get Rielly in, flooding social media with votes and calling on their followers to do the same.
The voting closed at midnight on Thursday, so now we'll be forced to wait until this weekend for the results to be revealed. Hopefully Leafs Nation did enough to get at least 3 or 4 Leafs into the mix, as the All-Star festivities take place in Toronto this season. It would be nice to have a strong Maple Leafs presence beyond just Matthews and Nylander.
